"I probably would have," Clowney said. "Because I came off a great season. If it was a chance, I probably would have.

"But right now, it's over with. I had to stay a third year. I did what I had to do, took care of business with my team, helped them win games, so I was excited about and that we won."

He also said rumors of him potentially sitting out the 2013 season to wait for the draft were "nonsense" and that his teammates and coaches knew he was going to return for his junior season.

"Yeah, coming into the next season after the hit, a lot of people was talking about sitting out and all of this, all of that," Clowney said. "A lot of people were expecting stuff that was impossible, like 10 sacks a game, 30 tackles for loss and I knew that wasn't going to happen this year, of course.

"But a lot of people expected that. I just go out there and play my game, play hard, physical football."

Clowney said he wasn't concerned about his draft stock throughout the season and dismissed his college coach, Steve Spurrier, saying his work habits were not like some other former South Carolina star players in the past in an NFL Network interview earlier this week.

No doubt in my mind he would have went pro in 2013 and it would have made the most sense because he was coming off such a great season and his last college impression would have been the Clowney-sized hole he left in that running back on Jan 1, 2013.

He would have been #1 or #2 that year so it would have made perfect sense.

That being said, this is not news or a story...just a piece from ESPN that states what all Gamecocks fans know and understood from the moment Clowney put on that Gamecocks hat.

I am glad that we had him for the time that we did.

I am glad that he is still a top-3 pick (barring idiocracy from GMs on draft day).

I am glad they are talking about players from South Carolina.

Keep rolling.

This is no indictment of the time he spent here this year, but I do not think we have seen the top of what Clowney is capable of on the football field. HE WILL BE A MONSTER AT THE NEXT LEVEL - AND IMMEDIATELY

Context? Coached in what way? I'm sure most who see this on its own are going to think coached on the football field, but he could easily be talking about coached on what to say during the combine, or coached on what to say about a specific question. Or, he could mean coached on the football field, I don't know. But it would be nice to have some context with this.